Arsenal v Chelsea: Early chance for Bragging Rights Ahead of new Season

In modern day football, the Community Shield is seen as an important game with an early chance to grab some silverware. Jose Mourinho certainly counted this among his trophies when running the rule over his first season at Manchester United but on Sunday, it’s over to Arsenal and Chelsea.

This is a repeat of the 2017 Cup Final which Arsenal claimed so, are the Gunners primed to record another win or will Antonio Conte’s Chelsea exact revenge?

Match Odds

Bookmakers list Chelsea as the favourites to win the game in 90 minutes and the best odds for Conte’s men currently drop in at 6/5 with Bet365 and Paddy Power. Victory for Arsenal is listed at a top price of 49/20 with MarathonBet while the draw is on offer at 21/10 with Betway and Ladbrokes.

Remember, those are the 90 minute odds and, if you feel there may be extra time and penalties then you can cross to the Lift the Trophy market. Here, Chelsea are at a best of 8/11 with SkyBet while Arsenal shorten to a top price of 6/4 with William Hill.

We certainly think it’s tight and that extra time, at the very least, may be needed but we’ll firstly look at the men who can decide the destiny of this trophy.

Individual Goal Scorers

Both sides have new strikers for this season but it’s the Chelsea new man Alvaro Morata who starts as favourite to score the first goal at best odds of 47/10 with MarathonBet. Much is expected from the former Real Madrid man with Eden Hazard injured and Diego Costa expected to leave the club but Morata should get good support from Michy Batshuayi who is quoted at a top price of 11/2 with Paddy Power and BetBright to open the scoring.

Arsenal first get a mention with Olivier Giroud who can be backed at a best of 6/1 with BetFred for the first goal while a couple of price boosts from SkyBet see Alexis Sanchez and new centre forward Alexandre Lacazette listed at the same tempting best odds of 13/2.

Lacazette has looked sharp in pre-season and we expect him to score but you may prefer his price in the anytime in 90 minutes markets of 19/10 with 10Bet.
Other, higher priced options in the anytime markets include Chelsea’s Willian at 3/1 with BetFred or Mesut Ozil from Arsenal at a tempting 5/1 with 32Red.

Other Side Bets

Popular side bets for this game include Both Teams to Score at a top price of 4/6 with 10Bet or you could switch to the overs and unders markets. In previous seasons, the Community Shield may have been quite an open game as sides tended not to take it too seriously.

However, this is considered an important trophy now and these can often be cagey games with neither team wanting to give too much away. With that in mind, the under 2.5 line looks a strong option at 19/17 with 188Bet or you can go over that line at a best of 17/20 with MarathonBet.

We think it will be low scoring and tight with a correct score of 1-1 another potential tip at a top price of 13/2 with William Hill. Once again, those prices are for the game in 90 minutes and not for any extra time.

Any early games are hard to predict but Chelsea look set for another positive campaign. They didn’t need too many reinforcements over the summer but the acquisition of Morata is set to be a like-for-like in terms of the departing Costa. Chelsea to win the trophy looks the better option but, against a competitive Arsenal side who will have surely improved with the arrival of Lacazette, it may take Conte’s men beyond 90 minutes to take the game.